The Prince and Princess of Wales have begun their milestone US trip, greeted by crowds of well-wishers in Boston as they kicked off their first overseas royal visit since the Queen’s death.

On a rainy and windy afternoon, up to 1000 fans gathered at Boston’s City Hall Plaza on Wednesday (local time) to catch a glimpse of the royals.

Prince William and Kate Middleton first met the city’s mayor Michelle Wu and Governor-elect Maura Healey. Then William spoke to the crowd, invoking the legacy of President John F Kennedy’s “Moonshot speech” 60 years earlier.

“It was the Moonshot speech that inspired me to launch the Earthshot Prize with the aim of doing the same for climate change as President Kennedy did for the space race,” he said, reported The Boston Globe.

In the royal couple’s first visit to the US since 2014. And this time the heir to the British throne and his wife brought a surprising – and “unusual” – member of their entourage, alongside their private secretaries and Kate’s stylists.

“[They] will be accompanied by a doctor on their travels,” Hello! magazine reported.

“It is symbolic of their importance within the British monarchy … prior to 2019, the Queen and Prince Philip, and Prince Charles and Camilla (now the King and Queen Consort) were the only ones to travel with a medical professional.”

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Travelling without their three children, the Prince and Princess of Wales have a packed three-day itinerary.

The visit also has added significance. It comes only a few days before William’s California-based brother Prince Harry and his American wife, podcaster and actress Meghan Markle, take the limelight at an awards ceremony in New York, ahead of a Netflix documentary and revealing memoir.

There’s also the distracting matter of another racism storm engulfing the royal family, which emerged as William and Kate were mid-Atlantic early on Thursday (AEDT).

One of the Queen Consort’s aides was dismissed this week after making “unacceptable and deeply regrettable” comments about race and citizenship to a woman at a reception at Buckingham Palace.

Ngozi Fulani, who was born in Britain and works for a domestic abuse support group, wrote on Twitter that the aide had repeatedly asked her: “What part of Africa are you from?”.

“We take this incident extremely seriously and have investigated immediately to establish the full details. In this instance, unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments have been made,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson said the individual concerned, referred to by Ms Fulani as Lady SH, wanted to apologise for the hurt and had stepped aside from her honorary role with immediate effect.

Neither Ms Fulani nor the palace identified the aide in question but British media said it was Lady Susan Hussey, the 83-year-old godmother of Prince William.

Through a spokesperson, the Prince of Wales said: “I was really disappointed to hear about the guest’s experience. Racism has no place in our society. These comments were unacceptable and it’s right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.”

While he and Kate are in Boston they will, according to the official royal.uk website, “get to know the city” and learn about what it is doing to combat the effects of climate change. They will also head to the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum with the US Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy.

The visit will culminate on Friday with William and Kate as guests of honour at the star-studded Earthshot Prize ceremony at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway.

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be in New York City on December 6, to accept the Robert F Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award. It will honour them for their commitment to social change and human rights work.

Royal family ‘a competitive bunch’

With Harry and Meghan’s highly anticipated Netflix documentary series debuting on December 8, Thursday also brought a promotion for the duke’s Invictus Games.

Towards the end of the clip, Harry and Meghan face off in a game of ping pong.

For royal commentators and many in the British media, the twin visits will be a chance to contrast the popularity and lives of the brothers.

“The royal family are a competitive bunch, they always have been and always will be,” royal biographer Andrew Morton told Reuters.

“Prince William is the future king, Prince Harry no longer has a royal role.

“But nonetheless, they will be looking at the optics to see who had the biggest crowds, who had the most column inches and if they tell you otherwise, don’t believe them.”

“Megan and Harry are a polarising couple,” said Morton, adding the Sussexes – who he described as “the king and queen of California” – were mobbed on their last trip to New York.

“It’ll be interesting to look at the size of the crowds in New York, where Megan and Harry accept their award, compared to the crowds for William and Catherine in Boston.”

People magazine’s senior royals editor, Erin Hill reckons “it’s only natural for people to want to pit these two couples against each other”.

“But I think American audiences are not viewing this as a competition.”

She said there would be huge US interest in William and Kate’s trip and the Netflix documentary, while Harry’s upcoming memoir Spare, to be released in January, will be “the book of the year”.

“I can tell you that Americans have never been as enthusiastic about the royal family as they are now,” said Morton.

“[Netflix show] The Crown, for all the criticism, has actually introduced a new generation of royal addicts.”